Lindsey says Harrogate win was Crawley’s best performance

Scott Lindsey felt Crawley produced the best performance since he became manager after the Reds ended a run of six successive defeats with a convincing 3-1 home victory over 10-man Harrogate.

Crawley had previously won only one of Lindsey’s nine games since he replaced Matthew Etherington at the start of the year.

But two first-half goals from Aramide Oteh and another from veteran midfielder Jordon Mutch gave the Reds a much-needed boost in their fight to avoid relegation, narrowing the gap between them and third-bottom Hartlepool to a single point.

Lindsey said: “It was our best performance since I’ve been here.

“I’m really pleased. The players put in a shift, made good decisions at the right moments, and we were aggressive in the way we played.

“We were on the front foot and it was the best performance since I’ve been here.”

The former Swindon boss admitted there had been a lot of discussions since the 3-0 midweek defeat at Sutton and he now wants their seventh league win of the season to act as a “massive springboard” for the remainder of the campaign.

He added: “One win can change everything and we will be fighting for every point we can. We will be giving it everything right up to May 8.”

Harrogate finished with 10 men after defender Toby Sims received a straight red card for throwing the ball at Ashley Nadesan in the last minute – an act manager Simon Weaver called a “rush of blood.”

“He deserved the red card. It was a rush of blood,” said Weaver, who described his side’s display as “a really bad away performance” and said he felt sorry for the travelling fans.

Weaver was also dismayed with the way his men failed to build on their 2-0 win at Doncaster with a positive display and admitted: “It plays into the hands of Harrogate being a soft touch.”

Anthony O’Connor pulled a goal back for Harrogate with the last kick of the game but Weaver drew no consolation from that, saying: “I’d rather have had a point and a clean sheet.

“We didn’t do the dirty work, collapsing as we did, and the first goal was a shocker. As a collective, we didn’t turn up as a team.

“We need to fight for each other; at times we looked like a wet blanket.”